


Two voices

by lia_chuu1



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy au-ish, Friendship, Gen, I'm editing this as I go, Johnny and mark are mentioned, Kudos to those who know or atleast remember cuz it's an old movie, Light Angst, My english is'nt perfect so feel free to click out, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So just look back on some chapters incase I've changed them, Taeten if u squint, This is actually inspired by a movie, dojae
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-05-31 15:13:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15122150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lia_chuu1/pseuds/lia_chuu1
Summary: A story of friendship and music. Two orphans shared a common intereset in music— one plays the flute and the other plays the acoustic guitar. After their orphanage was forced to close down, they made a promise to never leave each other's sides no matter what the circumstances may be.But when a new face enters their story, what kind of unforgettable adventure awaits for them?—Yeah, I changed the desc. up a bit but I'm not sure if it's an improvement from the last one or not.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author: I'm bad at descriptions (and maybe english too). Also slight warning, the story might not be realistic at all to be honest but bare with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The starting might be a little confusing and I know what y'all are gonna be thinking... but it will make sense soon.

"One, two, three and step... one, two.." And the counting goes on with every step they take.

  
Taeyong, a red-haired male, was spending his time dancing to a song with his partner and best friend, Ten, in their dance studio, creating their cheography for their showcase next month. They of course did a lot of improvising to make it look more natural. Once they finished with the last move of the dance routine, Ten went straight for his bottle of water, gulping it down and wiping the excess water from his lips. Taeyong soon follows right after.

  
"Hey Ten, since we're done, do you wanna maybe have lunch at the café near Johnny's place? I heard they have the best cheesecakes." The red head male suggested while stuffing his water bottle back into his bag. Ten grins widely at the word _cheesecake_. Taeyong just knows Ten too well.

  
"Sure. I could really use the sugar right now. These smiles don't just come naturally ya'know." Ten said, perfect smile on show which made the other giggle at his lame joke. The mood was lifted with the two smiling and chatting happily but it was soon disrupted by a rather annoyed, mad-looking orange-haired boy. It was to no surprise the teen who walked in was undoubtedly Lee Donghyuck.

  
"—That stupid motherfucking asshole promised he would. He fucking promised and then decided he rather be at home while I suffer in the dust. What a jerk!" The younger boy was clearly not in a good mood. Angrily ranting and coming up with all the insults his brain could muster up all at once— It was enough evidence to prove that. He crossed his arms, stomped across the room and sat down, shoes squeking against the dance floor in the process. Donghyuck seemed to have not noticed the other two in the room (Taeyong tried to ignore the cussing from the younger boy— for now, Donghyuck's problem is his main priority). Donghyuck was still mumbling incoherent insults and curses as the two older boys exchanged looks before Ten decided to approach the younger boy.

  
"What's wrong Donghyuck-ah? Did someone put a stick up your ass yesterday?" Ten asked, crouching beside the boy, but not without having to ignore Taeyong's glare at his insensetive words. "It's none of your business, hyung." The younger answered, not even glancing at the other to which Ten returned with a small pout. Ten started to stare at Taeyong, then gesturing him to Donghyuck, who seemed more irritated than he was a few minutes ago. Taeyong got the message and approached the younger slowly, patting his shoulders in a comforting way. "Don't worry, you don't have to tell us if you don't– "

  
"It's Mark." The younger finally admitted, slowly turning his body to face the two with his head hung low. "We had...a fight." He concludes bitterly as he stops his sentence there. Taeyong could hear Ten mumbling a 'I can't believe he told him and not me' and ending with a hmph.

  
There was a long pause before Ten decided to speak up again. "What for?" Donghyuck shook his head in reply.

  
They never thought a day like this would come. Donghyuck and Mark had always been inseparable when they were younger. Now that Taeyong thought about it, both Ten and Taeyong exchanged glances again and the older one only grinned and chuckled. Donghyuck saw and just gave him a glare that says 'you're not helping'.

  
As usual, Donghyuck gets upset over the smallest things. "You know..." Taeyong trailed off. "you and Mark kinda remind me of two other individuals I've met." Taeyong said while watching Ten who already had a bag of chips ready in his hands (Taeyong honestly had no idea how he got his hands on the snack so fast, or even where he got it from because he either brought it from home...or literally walked through the whole corridoor to buy it from the vending machine).

  
He offered some to Taeyong to which he gladly accepted, giving a weird look while at it. He offered some to Donghyuck but the younger just was'nt having an appetite at the moment.

  
"What are you trying to say?" Donghyuck asked, the curiosity shown in his eyes tells Taeyong to continue. "Oh, just friends I've met a few years ago." Taeyong shrugged. "They had a similar incident with you and Mark when they were around your age." Donghyuck's mouth forms an _o_ at that.

  
"Oh tell us the story. I wanna hear it." Ten exclaimed excitedly as if he has'nt listened to it more than five times already.

  
"There's a story to it? Come on hyung, tell the story." Donghyuck pleaded playfully as he shook Taeyong's arms like a 5-year-old child begging his mother to buy candy.

  
Taeyong just sighs as he was now about to tell his famous (not so much) story. He swears it will get too repetitive for his and their own good.


	2. Chapter 2

It was 6 in the morning when a large shipment truck was parked near an apple orchad. The truck was nearly loaded with packages.

  
"And that's the last of 'em." Jaehyun, a tall brown-haired male grunted as he lifted the last few (heavy) boxes of fresh-picked fruits onto a truck. The driver thanked the other politely and shook his hand then started to dig something out of his pocket. He looked back at the amount of boxes then back at his pocket. "Here's the pay." The other's eyes brightened at the sight of thin sheets of cash being given to him. "Remember, we'll be coming back next year or so to pick up the next stock."

  
"Yes, of course." The brunet grinned widely, his dimples prominately showing on his cheeks. With that, the driver started heading back to the driver's seat and drove of to the main city. Jaehyun sighed exhaustingly before he stuffing the money into his own pocket and went back to his wooden farm house.

  
"Hey, Doyoung."

  
"Well that was quick. So how much was the pay today?" A familiar voice asked after walking past the kitchen to the front door. Jaehyun was greeted by his black-haired, bunny-faced friend, Doyoung. "50 dollars. But I don't think it would be enough to last us another year, sadly." Jaehyun placed the amount in a small box that was barely filled with any cash. Living a life where money was scarce was'nt an easy one. But the older of the two thought otherwise and rather saw it as an opportunity to work harder (Jaehyun did'nt know he had it in him to be honest). "Then we'll just have to survive with what we've got. In the meantime..." He trailed of, taking out Jaehyun's beige guitar from it's stand, a cheeky smile on his face.

  
Oh, that smile.

  
Jaehyun could already tell what the other was about to say. He rolled his eyes as he retrieved his instrument from the other. Eventually a small smile crept up on his face as well. "Come on, we can't keep our audience waiting." Doyoung said and went to get his own instrument, a pale-white coloured flute, from his desk.

  
Other than helping to take care of a small apple orchard, the both of them often performed near a market place where it was usaully crowded with people. A perfect location as Doyoung would call it. Kids playing musical instruments was quite common in their orphanage and hence the reason why Doyoung and Jaehyun took up the hobby of playing the flute and guitar respectively when they were younger.

  
A flute and guitar might seem like an odd combination, but the two partners knew how to make it work. Accompanied with their singing, their harmonies worked well together and were enough to satisfy people and might even get awarded with a few coins afterwards.

  
Jaehyun was waiting near the front door for Doyoung. When he does come out, he wore a small, old-looking, brown saddlebag. "I've packed some egg-mayo sandwiches for lunch later. Made them a while ago." Egg-mayo sandwich does sound nice but Jaehyun just had the urge to ask, "Is'nt that the bag you used to wear when you were like, 11?" Jaehyun pointed at the bag and Doyoung nodded sheepishly at the other's question. "Yeah, like I had any other bag anyway." Jaehyun just shrugged and both men walked on their normal route to the village where the well-known market place was at.

 

  
The market was filled with stalls selling food and other trinkets. As expected, people; both local and foriegners, were walking through the many stalls set up there. Perfect. Doyoung found a place infront of a fountain area where they saw some children throwing in coins for good luck. Too bad, they did'nt have any coins at the moment. They found a dry place on the fountain edge to sit on and placed a small box on the sandy ground infront of them.

  
Like they've practiced, Jaehyun started strumming the strings of his guitar, the first chord was played beautifully followed by the next. At the same time, Doyoung closed his eyes as he blew into his flute. His fingers changing it's position to each hole, playing the note to match Jaehyun's guitar chords and soon they began to harmonise into a song. Jaehyun even started to singing. They had'nt come up with the lyrics yet so Jaehyun just sang some "du"s with some "la"s and other words to match the rythm.

  
It was'nt long until people started to gather around the two to watch their performance. The song ended with the last strum of Jaehyun's guitar and the crowd (that both Jaehyun and Doyoung had not noticed had already formed) applouded with cheers and whistles. The performers stood up at the same time and bowed. The crowd clapped once again and one by one started to toss some of their coins into their empty box. Once the crowd had scattered back on their own ways, Jaehyun picked up the now slightly heavier box and poured the coins into a small coin pouch and gave it to Doyoung to hold while he was putting the box back into his friend's bag. Doyoung's eyes almost sparkled, imagining the amount they had earned and counting them once they were back home.

  
Doyoung looked back towards the younger's direction and smiled as he was gulping down his bottle of tap water. He suddenly remembered when Jaehyun was only 10 when he recalled him saying something about wanting to travel the whole land and maybe the world someday.

  
 _Hmm, maybe one day we could._ — Doyoung thought in his head. As of now, they had to earn more than what they had if they wanted to travel anywhere.

  
"Help, theif!" Yelled an old woman, probably around her 70s pointing at a man whose face they can't read (because only his eyes, mouth and part of his nose could be seen not covered by his mask) was running with a woven sack carried behind him.

  
"What the-" The man, the theif, was heading towards their direction and Jaehyun was pushed aside before he could even process the current situation. He fell onto the sandy ground with a hard thud, some dirt even got smudged onto his white shirt. Doyoung had a similar situation, he was too slow to react when the theif unexpectedly snatched the coin pouch out of his hands.

  
"Hey, stop right there!" Jaehyun yelled when he saw what happened as he quickly got up to his feet to chase after the man who stole their well-earned money. Doyoung ran right after. He was most definitely not going to let their hard work get swept away just like that.

  
The theif was fast but Jaehyun was faster. He caught up to him, not realising that he was already so far away from the village. When Jaehyun was close enough, he reached out his hand to grab onto the theif's shoulder but tripped and fell, coincidently grabbing onto the theif's leg and bringing the the burglar down with him as well. By doing that, the theif lost his grip on the coin pouch and it flew to the ground. Jaehyun watched in horror as it toppled down a slope, some of the coins flying out with it. To make things worse, a river was flowing rapidly below the slope and the helplessly watched as the coins get swept away by the strong current. A grunt came out from the dark-clothed man when he realized he got caught. Jaehyun really had the urge to choke and strangle the theif to death, but he was lucky Jaehyun was not as cold-hearted as he thinks.

  
"There he is." Jaehyun turned to look behind him and to his relief, Doyoung was standing there with two males beside him. One of them picked up the woven sack that the theif shamelessly stole from the old woman earlier. The other officer pulled up the theif by his arms and dragged him back to the village where he would be locked up behind bars for good. Doyoung helped Jaehyun up to his feet and Jaehyun wiped away most of the dirt on his clothes. They will surely spend more than twenty minutes doing laundry tonight. "Wow, I did'nt know you could run that fast." Doyoung panted from running when he had to catch up to them. Jaehyun did'nt answer, he just glanced back at the river and picked up the now almost empty pouch below him. Jaehyun knew Doyoung would be so upset and disappointed if he told him. But he had to.

  
He turned around and lifted the pouch to his eye-level instead, his head still facing his feet. Jaehyun could already sense the other's face slowly disappearing from a relieved smile to a more saddened frown. "I'm sorry..." Jaehyun apologized, it came out more softer than he had thought. Doyoung felt that he had no need to apologize. Not at all. "It was'nt your fault, Jaehyun." The older comforted the younger as he swinged his arm over the other's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back." Jaehyun nodded slowly, still upset over their losses. "Don't worry, we can still earn more next time." Usually it was Jaehyun who comforted the other with encouraging words but this time, he was the one sulking and the other was the one cheering him up. Of course, Doyoung was a little dissapointed. But what's done was done and there is nothing they can do to change it.

  
Doyoung was like an older brother Jaehyun never had, the same goes with the older. They were inseparable as some would say. They would always spend their time together in the orphanage without a care in the world. Now that they were older, they had a lot more things to worry about.

  
They followed the trail back to the village where they saw the police van driving off with their prisoner.

  
"There you two are."

  
The two men were caught by surprise when the same old lady from earlier walked up to them and stood before the two. Their height difference was definately huge and the two boys had to look at the woman at a certain angle and distance in order to see her face clearly. Sure, she had some wrinkles like a normal waman at that age would but they were strangely subtle. Like they were mysteriosly camouflaged by something their eyes can't really pick up.

  
"I need to thank the two of you for trying to help an old-woman such as myself today." The woman continued. "Please, accept my gifts as a thank you. I really hope it will be enough."

  
In her hand, was a round, silver- framed mirror with some cursive words, that was unreadable due to the rust, inscripted at the back. Together with it was a very small pouch which looked to be filled with coins, seemed like it was anyway.

  
"I've heard that you lost some money while chasing after the theif. It might not be the exact amount but it should be enough to pay the debt."

  
"Wait, how do you know that?" Jaehyun said, referring to their money and furrowing his eyebrows at the old lady.

  
"...Just a hunch." It came out more like a question rather than an answer. Jaehyun could sense her uncomfortableness and decided to stop asking the questions.

  
Both Jaehyun and Doyoung exchanged looks, debating on whether to accept and take it or refuse. "You don't owe us any coins, ma'am. I'm sorry, but we do accept your thanks to us. That's all we need to hear, really." Doyoung declined politely.

  
The old woman looked down sadly, almost the same way Jaehyun was a while ago. "If it's what you want. I'll be going now." The old lady turned around and walked away, limping slightly with her wooden walking stick as she did.

  
Jaehyun hated the way the old woman looked when she turned away, it just hurts his heart looking at the sight. She looked as if she got kicked out of her own family's house and was forced to move out on her own. Jaehyun just could'nt stand it.

  
"Wait!"

  
The old lady turned around, her expression was the same. Doyoung looked at him, a little confused as to what the younger was doing. Jaehyun turned and faced him in a meaningful way, telling him that he knew what he was doing. Jaehyun then approached the woman

  
"We'll take it. How about..." He trailed of going to an "uhmmm", his hands circling around the two items as if to pick one of the other. Finally coming up with a decision, he took only the mirror from her and held it up. "—we take this and you keep the money. I'm sure you need it more than we do." Jaehyun closed the woman's hands, curling her fingers back which made her hold onto the small pouch even more tightly.

  
It made the woman's expression more brighter which caused Jaehyun to grin back at her. "Such a kind-hearted gentleman you are. Very well then."

  
With that, the woman turned back around, this time smiling knowingly as she went on her way. Jaehyun went back to a still unsure and confused Doyoung and showed him the mirror.

  
"You could've gone for the money, you know." Doyoung stated jokingly as he raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms.

  
"You know I could'nt do that, right?" Doyoung understood what Jaehyun's intentions were, he really did. The younger always had a big heart and he trusts that he always will.

  
"Oh well, we needed a new mirror anyway. May be small, but it's good enough to fit my face." Doyoung said as he took the mirror, that fitted perfectly in his hand, from the younger and looked at his own reflection, stroking his jaw while at it. "I would'nt want to have to look at your face when I comb my hair every morning." The older added jokingly, making the other scoff in reply.

  
"As if your looks are better than mine." The younger retorted as he closened the distance between his face and Doyoung's unamused one, he could practically smell the smirk forming on Jaehyun's lower half of his face.

  
The older felt that it was just a little too close for his liking and pushed the younger's forehead back further with his two fingers.

  
"You can't deny that I'm better-looking than you."

  
"Whatever you say." Doyoung rolled his eyes at him. Even though Doyoung always gave in to the younger, he always knew deep inside who was the better-looking one out of the two. Who was of course, himself.

  
The older continued to look at his reflection in the mirror. He only realised that he looked more dishiveled than he thought. His hair was sticking in all directions. Doyoung ran his fingers through his hair to try styling it back to it's original one. He could say the same with Jaehyun, honestly. His hair was also stuck in different directions and some were even sticking to his forehead from sweat.

  
"Uh hyung, are'nt you forgetting something?" Jaehyun questioned and Doyoung tilted his head slightly, raising his eyebrows at him again.

  
"Forgetting what?" Doyoung asked.

  
"Um, this." Jaehyun revealed a strap that was hanging on his index finger. Doyoung's gaze follows down the strap and saw his own saddlebag. He gasps, he must've forgotten about it when he followed Jaehyun to chase after the thief earlier. Which also spikes up the question; how did Jaehyun manage to get his bag without Doyoung knowing it?

  
"My bag– Hey!" Jaehyun began moving the bag further away from Doyoung's reach.

  
"Uh uh, not so fast." Jaehyun smirked in amusement as he watched the older's attempts to get a hold of the bag.

  
"Jaehyun, we're too old to be playing games like this."

  
"Who says?"

  
"I do. Now give it back." The raven haired male whined, annoyed by the brunnete.

  
"Alright," Doyoung relaxed a tiny bit when he saw the younger kindly hovering the bag infront of him, but playing fake did'nt last for long. "If you can catch me first." Jaehyun dashed off unexpectedly when Doyoung was just about to snatch the bag away from him.

  
"Why you little– Come back here!"

  
Doyoung chased after him as Jaehyun dashes away while uncontrollably laughing like the little mischievous kid he used to be. And maybe still is. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 1 am and did not profread it so there might be, scratch that, WILL be grammar mistakes in this and in the other chapters since I have a habit of always not reading my work first before archiving it.
> 
>  
> 
> Edit: When u finally read thru ur chapter and found multiple grammar mistakes...*sigh* I kinda expected it actually.
> 
> I edited some of it (and added a few phrases) btw. Emphasize on some cuz i'm pretty sure there are more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surpriiiissee! I'm not dead ya'lls
> 
> SPOILER ALERT: Get ready for a new member appearence : )

Jaehyun dried up his hair with his towel after taking an extremely cold shower and fell onto his bed after an exhausting day. He looked outside of his bedroom window where he saw the sky turning from it's natural blue colour into a mixture of pink, orange, and some purple as the sun was about to set. Jaehyun exhaled at the familiar breath-taking view. It was'nt new to him. He lived here for more than 6 years with Doyoung. The beauty that is nature will surely be something amazing, as Jaehyun would think. It was one of his sources for releiving stress and other worries that he might have.

 

Looking back at the beautiful atmosphere, he imagined himself riding on a horse, something like some of the higher-ups do and galloping away into the same sunset he was seeing right now before him. He always wanted to know what it felt like; to be free, never having the need to worry ever again. Doubt that would ever happen, though.

 

"Jaehyun?" Doyoung said to all of a sudden, disrupting Jaehyun's thoughts as he turned around to see a wet-haired Doyoung infront of him. His towel was wrapped around his neck, sitting on top of his shoulders. He wore his white tank top with black pants stopping right at his bottom calves. He must've came from the shower because his hair was glossy with water that dripped down from his strands of hair.

 

"What are you looking at? Is someone there?" The older asks as he gestured towards the window but Jaehyun just shook his head, assuring the other that it was just a bird that flew by.

 

Doyoung shrugged and looked at his reflection in a body-length long mirror. It was'nt hung on the wall so it was just standing on it's side, leaning against the wall. He unwrapped the towel around his neck and continued to wipe of the excess water in his hair. He shivered from the sudden cold blowing against his body, as if the water was'nt cold enough. Once his hair was mostly dried, he focuses on the other reflection of Jaehyun, who had already fell onto his bed and held an object up from his layed down position. It was the mirror that they received from the nice old lady. But now it was more shinier, it's frame was more cleaner– it looked almost brand new.

 

Doyoung turned back to Jaehyun and the younger spoke as he stared at the back side of the mirror. "I wanted to make the mirror look less rusty and dirty, so I decided to clean it." Jaehyun said. Doyoung just nodded his head, trying to ignore the fact that Jaehyun just cleaned some of the rusted metal parts probably with just plain water and a cloth. Doyoung just does'nt know how he was able to do that, honestly. But later then he thought that Jaehyun was and will always be the Jaehyun who would find his own ways to get his work done, even if it seemed...impossible? It was one of Jaehyun's quirks that Doyoung will never ever get an explaination of but, he liked this Jaehyun.

 

Doyoung repositioned the candle on their old, dark wooden surface bedside table, then running the red end of the matchstick on the rough surface of the match box. After two attempts, the flame on the matchstick lit up the room. The holder quickly transfering the flame to the candle and shook the matchstick lightly before he accidentally burns his fingers with it.

 

"Voices sung together - Are always better than singing one alone." Jaehyun read out the quoted inscriptions, that he could now see properly, in a soft tone, audible enough for Doyoung to hear. "Interesting..." The older said as he approached the younger, looking at it. It was written in cursives; underlined and surrounded with elegant swirls. Now that Jaehyun was looking at it in a closer point of view, it had these two small holes, compartments, at the back. Shaped of diamonds. The holes were'nt very shallow, but quite unnecessary in Jaehyun's opinion. But he's not the one who designed it, was he?

 

"Is it just me, or does this mirror feel magical to you." Jaehyun was a little hesitant in his choice of words but says it out anyway. Magical? It was the first time Doyoung has heard Jaehyun say anything like that (or at least Doyoung thinks so). "You're sounding a little ridiculous, don't you think?"

 

"You're right. Maybe it's just me..." Jaehyun let out a sigh as he placed the small mirror onto their bedside table. He even started to realise himself that it was a little odd as it was not likely to happen in this world.

 

...Not yet, at least.

 

Jaehyun was'nt finished staring at the item when Doyoung swiped the mirror from his point of sight abruptly.

 

"Mirror mirror in my hand, who is the most fairest man in all the land." Doyoung chanted jokingly like as if the mirror would somehow reply back. He held his expression firmly as he stared at his own mirrored self. Jaehyun could be heard mumbling, gritting his teeth, saying something in the lines of, "Is he really making fun of me right now?"

 

"See, told you." Doyoung placed the mirror back down where it was originally set, confirming the other that it was just any ordinary mirror.

 

Or so they thought.

 

Jaehyun pouted. Doyoung saw once he plopped down on his own bed and did the same, almost as if he was teasing the younger, in a playful way. Jaehyun then raised one of his eyebrows and his lips flattened back into a straight line. Doyoung followed, trying to keep a steady face as he was trying to hold in a smile.

 

"Would you quit it." Jaehyun said, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance, glowering at the older. Doyoung stopped trying to copy his expressions because Jaehyun was serious, although he did find it adorable, in a way.

 

"Would you stop being so frowning all the time and smile." The raven-haired male replied. Jaehyun turned away to roll his eyes before facing the other in the eyes again. He slowly raised the corners of his lips and showed his perfectly aligned pearly white teeth. Even with his fake smile, there was still some traces of his dimples showing on each side of his cheeks.

 

Doyoung chuckled, covering the lower part of his face with his palms. The brunet rolled his eyes once again. "I'm just messing with you." Doyoung said, showing his famous bunny smile that Jaehyun had known ever since they met.

 

It was normal for friends to have little arguments from time to time, from disagreements and etcetera. Jaehyun and Doyoung were no exception. They would joke around, tease each other and have a few misunderstandings, but it was nothing serious that led to fights, at least not yet. Not that it was any worry to them anyway. The both of them knew that they needed each others' company in order to survive the harsh world that is reality. They would always find a way to resolve and make up in the end.

 

A few minutes had passed and the both of them decided that it was time to go rest and call it a night. They did'nt have anything to eat for dinner that night, so they settled on a few slices of apples each since the ones outside were either spoiled or still verdant. The food on their plate was'nt quite enough to completely stop the grumbling of their stomachs– Jaehyun's in particular was restless. Nonetheless, the poor boys had to try sleeping without having a full stomach, eventually sleeping into the cold night.

 

As the hour passed and their candle light had finally blew out, both men were seen snuggled into their thin blankets, which did'nt fully cover up their whole body, unfortunately. They were just grateful that they had a bed to sleep on. The peace was'nt meant to last as the window of their bedroom suddenly opened and the cold wind started to hit their room like a storm. Jaehyun was too immersed in his slumber to wake up immediatly. On the other hand, Doyoung shot up from his bed with wide eyes from shock and raised his hands to his upper body, shivering from the sudden cold that was surrounding him. "Since when was it so c-cold." Doyoung grimaced as he has'nt felt cold like that for years.

 

At the same time, the sounds of the wind could be heard clearly and dark clouds started forming in the sky outside, the rain already began pouring heavily to the ground. He flinched when he heard a thunder clap.

 

All this was happening before Doyoung could even have time to get a glimpse of the outside, to see the natural disaster that was happening before him.

 

He wasted no time as his first instict was to try closing the window again, locking it into place to prevent any more wind from coming in. While doing that, he saw the trees swaying in the wind, some smaller plants getting blown down by the strong wind.

 

Jaehyun soon woke up to the sounds of his housemate's minor ruckus. "What...why...what happened?" Jaehyun had difficulty speaking in his half-sleeping state as his mouth kept letting out loud yawns in between his words.

 

"There's a storm outside." Doyoung stated. Jaehyun's eyes were still drowsy but he was alarmed and looked outside the window on the other side. All the two could do was to stare at the happenings outside with hope that parts of their home will still remain, even with some broken and destroyed.

 

 

The both of them did'nt sleep last night, that's to say that they could'nt.

 

The storm had only stopped the next morning and...Jaehyun had his hopes crushed as to see some of the once tall trees, had fallen to the ground due to the wind. Doyoung scanned the area, unintentionally sniffing in the fresh after-rain air in the morning, which he liked but the aftermath was nothing to feel refreshed or happy about. The plants and taller grass patches were covered in dirt, the ground became slippery and muddy from the rain and random things or part of them were scattered everywhere.

 

Jaehyun turned his head towards the direction the older was facing, only to see that their house was as much of a disaster as it's surrounding backgrounds. It's roof was slightly ruined with branches of trees that alas, did not survive the wind and rainstorm.

 

Jaehyun flinched when Doyoung suddenly went to panic mode with his hands gripping onto his hair almost like he was about to tear it apart. "Oh no, our clothes!"

 

Oh yeah. Wait, no!

 

Jaehyun saw the other male mouthing out a swear word but kept it low and followed after the other male who dashed towards the back of the house before he could say anything. Once he got the place into view, he saw the wire that connected each end of the wooden poles and hung their clothes up was now basically a part of the muddy ground, with their clothes. Doyoung admitted at fault for not bringing in their clothes before the storm worsened.

 

"Great, now we have to do some extra laundry." Doyoung said, reffering to the now earth smelling, brown tinted clothing that he was holding up at the tip of his fingers. Jaehyun watched with weary.

 

With a final groan of the younger and a familiar smile from the older, they got to work on cleaning the place up. Jaehyun was reluctant but he has to, whether if he wants to do it or not.

 

"Hey Jaehyun, could you help me with this branch." Jaehyun proceeded to do as the older says. Jaehyun had no problem to carrying the huge branch, that blocked the river, as he was more mascular body. He helped Doyoung move the branch out of the way and added it to the pile of wood somewhere near their house. Who knows? Maybe it could be useful. The river now flowed in it's original pace after they had removed the thing causing it to lose it's flow. The mini waterfall that flowed down the rocky slope was a beautiful sight.

 

"I think that's all of 'em. Should we start with the laundry next?" Jaehyun washed the dirt of his hands in the clean river water. Strangely, the river survived the hectic storm as the clarity of the water still remained.

 

"Way ahead of you." Doyoung brought in a bucket and a washboard.

 

They long knew what labour work actually feels like.

 

Doyoung heaved a sigh, shaking his arms rapidly from exhaustion. "Are you alright? Do you want me to take over." Jaehyun asked but Doyoung kindly waved his hand 'no' at him.

 

"I'm fine. I'll just go replenish the bucket again. Be right back."

 

"Okay, be careful not to slip!" Jaehyun reminded.

 

Doyoung made his way towards the river and scooped up the water with his bucket. Carrying the bucket back was a challenge now that it was heavy with water. But he managed to keep most of the water in the bucket.

 

"I'm back." Doyoung announced.

 

"Finally."

 

"I was'nt even gone for that long." Jaehyun chuckled as Doyoung placed the bucket down. The contents almost spilling but most of it stayed and some made it back into the bucket.

 

For a moment, Jaehyun swore that he saw a shine of light coming from the bucket but then he thought that it was just the sun doing what it he thinks it's doing. He decided to look into the bucket anyway. That was when his eyes widen.

 

"Whoa. Doyoung, look." He said pointing at the two small objects, crystals, in the liquid and soon scooping them up to show it to the older. "How did I not notice earlier? They're beautiful." Doyoung gasped as he picked up one from the two diamond-shaped crystal being presented to him.

 

Wait, diamond shaped...

 

"I may not be into shiny things but this is really– Jaehyun?" The latter was'nt really listening. He was just staring into mid space, completely ignoring Doyoung's calls. He looked like he was trying not to lose his train of thought at the moment. Jaehyun took just one glance on the object in his hand and then, it hit him.

 

"Aha! That's it!"

 

"What's it?"

 

Jaehyun hurriedly took out the mirror from his pocket, the same small mirror from the day before and moved his eyes back and forth from the mirror to the crystals again. Doyoung could'nt tell what exactly the younger was doing.

 

Jaehyun, with utmost care, placed each crystal piece into each hole. It was a perfect fit.

 

Jaehyun excitedly turned the mirror around, facing it upside with his own reflection appearing in it. He looked at it in full anticipation, his toes on edge from his sitting position. But, nothing happened. No magic, no nothing. Jaehyun slowly lowered the mirror, dissapointingly. What did he expect? He sighed out loudly, placing the mirror back in his own pocket after taking out the crystals of his disappointment.

 

Doyoung patted his shoulder comfortingly.

 

"Hey, why not we take these back and see what we can do with them." Doyoung suggested and took one of the crystals from the other and slid it into his pocket. Jaehyun's eyes followed the older's hand movements until he reached up to his face. Stuffing his own crystal in his pocket, he nods.

 

The both of them got back to what they were doing. The puddles on the ground soon started to evaporate and almost everything turned back to it's original place and form.

 

It was thirty five munutes later when they had finally finished washing their clothes and clipped them back to dry again.

 

The both of them sat on the stone bench near the river in silence as the calmness of the surroundings drowned them. Doyoung thought that the atmosphere was almost perfect. Warm, breezy but not too windy. It was calming but it was too, quiet. By habit, Doyoung starts to hum a random tune, it was soft but audible enough for Jaehyun's ear to catch. The younger smiles at him. "What song are you humming to, Doyoung?"

 

Doyoung pauses to look at the brown-haired man. "Nothing, just something random. You know how I do it sometimes, right?" Jaehyun nods.

 

"Yeah. Go on. I wanna hear more." Jaehyun insisted and Doyoung does as requested.

 

Doyoung continued where he left off, now slighter louder with a more smoother flow and tone. People would actually pay just to hear his voice, Jaehyun thinks. Doyoung's voice was just that good.

 

Then, Jaehyun ears perked to the strange sounds of chimes. It was coming from beside him but there was only the mirror with Jaehyun's reflection clearly in it. He brought it with him because he just felt like it, an excuse that will forever be left unmentioned. Was he only hearing things? He wonders. The answer became more obvious when he heard it again but this time he saw it happening with his own eyes. Small white sparkles circled the part with his reflection in it. Jaehyun's eyes grew wide.

 

"Is something wrong?" The man beside him stopped out of the blue and asked worriedly when he noticed the younger's attention was not on him. The sparkles bagan to fade and the mirror was back to it's normal state. Jaehyun clasped his hands around the silver casing around the glass reflection and raised it to his eye-level. This made Doyoung even more confused.

 

"Jaehyun?..."

 

"Doyoung, do it again, a little more louder this time."

 

"What?"

 

"Just sing, or hum like you did just a few seconds ago."

 

"Uhm, ok..." Doyoung had no clue as to what Jaehyun was going for, but when would he ever?

 

He decided to sing a proper song this time, a song that he was more familiar and confident with. Jaehyun too decided to sing, or maybe hum along to it. And it happened again, as Jaehyun suspected. The magical star-shaped sparkles appeared more brighter than when Jaehyun first saw it. Doyoung, not knowing about it, let his voice trail into a more softer sound and a slower pace, making his singing sound more broken and disconnected. He was confused and speechless at the same time. Both of their eyes concentrated on their reflections expectantly.

 

Of course, they were'nt exactly expecting to see their reflections to suddenly disappear and get replaced by a stranger. The stranger's singing could be heard as he seems to be continuing the song from Doyoung's last line. Jaehyun and Doyoung thought that his singing sounded beautiful, almost heavenly, unlike the other voices they've heard before. Besides him being a stranger and all that, they were completely immersed in the sound of this particular stranger's voice.

 

"Are we stopping already? But it was so much fun, why pause?" The stranger whined and both Jaehyun and Doyoung exchanged quick glances at each other before studying the man behind the mirror. The only parts of his body that could'nt be seen was his lower torso and downwards. He wore a fitting silky sapphire robe andresting on his head was a headpiece with a single gem in the middle, (which seemed to resemble their crystal ones) adorning his dark chocolate brown hair perfectly.

 

"Wait, are you real?" Doyoung knitted his eyebrows as he tapped curiously at the part beside the stranger's head in the mirror and the mentioned stranger gave a weird look in return.

 

"I knew it." Jaehyun's voice could be heard.

 

From the beginning Jaehyun could sense the magical aura the mirror had and he managed to prove Doyoung wrong, he was proud of himself for that halfly because he rarely ever had proven him wrong.

 

The stranger's expression now changed into a more frightened one as he held up his hands defensively. As if he had come to some sort of realisation or alert.

 

"Oh no, uh," The stranger was panicking, trying to voice out his words properly. "just– just forget you ever saw me, just pretend I'm never here." The man ended up stuttering and then disappeared. Both of their reflections returned. For the first time ever, Doyoung does'nt want to see his face in the mirror any more and instead see the stranger again. Sure he was as confused as ever but he really wanted to. Jaehyun could say the same, except for the seeing his face in the mirror part.

 

"W– wait, come back. Please. We don't mean any harm." Jaehyun pleaded.

 

"We promise." He added but it was left unheard as their reflection still remained.

 

A light bulb mentally appeared beside Doyoung's head. He had an idea but he was'nt sure it was garenteed to work. Trying it out anyway, he started with a smooth 'u' vowel, shaping his mouth so that it comes out steadily. Jaehyun wanted to squeeze his own voice in as well, he hesitated but he did, eventually. Him and Doyoung made eye contact when the older heard the other's voice beside him, he smiled through his vowels as he sang.

 

Alas, Doyoung's plan actually worked and soon they were faced with the stranger with the amazing voice again. The stranger used that voice once again and naturally joined in as a supporting third vocal.

 

"I've never sang like that in years! I'm surprised that I still had it in me." The stranger said. "You two have quite the singing talent as well."

 

The two boys thanked him with bright grins on their faces at his compliment.

 

"I'm Taeil. Moon Taeil." He introduced with a royal bow. The thought of him doing that bow spiked a question in Doyoung's head.

 

"Jaehyun." The latter gestured at himself. "And this person right here is Doyoung." He swinged an arm over the older's broad shoulders and Doyoung was already so used to it to even bother shaking them off. Why would he?

 

"Nice to meet you Jaehyun, Doyoung."

 

"Uhm, if you don't mind me asking. By any chance are you a, prince?" Doyoung asked the question before he forgets.

 

There was a short pause.

 

"What do you think, Doyoung-ah?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally going to be a part of chapter 3 but I decided to split it into two cuz it's getting way too long. 
> 
> SPOILER ALERT (again): Another member appears here : ) Guess who.

Somewhere, far away, in a place filled with fog and an unsettling atmosphere. Everything about it just yells earie and dark. A small castle could be seen by the torches that lit up the place. 

 

There is certainly no way one could live there, well except for someone with the name of Nakamoto Yuta. Technically, he did thought that it was'nt his ideal place to live in but he had no other choice.

 

He was working as an apprentice for a wizard, an evil wizard. Yuta knew he had bad intentions, he knew it was wrong but something in his mind kept telling him to stay. He did'nt quite remember how he got into all this. He was just a poor villager trying to earn a living, all he wanted to do was to find a job. He agreed on a deal that supposedly offered him good money only to end up getting scamed and had to work for an evil wizard. He could have ran away a long time ago but not when he was trapped with, a curse.

 

He never would have thought someone could be so revengeful. Nonetheless, he tried hiding the feeling of dread of being under a curse and followed the wizard's orders as an apprentice, even if it means not being able to be free and see his parents again. Not that they would care anyway.

 

But looking at the positive side, working as an apprentice was not that bad. The most Yuta could do was to bring back a few ingredients for whatever potion the wizard wanted to make. Now, he was ordered to sweep the floor and basically clean the whole area while his master went out to get who knows what. The place was'nt small, it was much more of the opposite, but it was'nt like it was Yuta's first time dusting every little space, crook and cranny of the castle. He knows every inch and space of the place from the times he spent on cleaning.

 

His broom was brushing against the smooth stone surface. Yuta heaved a sigh as he was nearing the end of his cleaning duty. Once he did a last final check, he leaned back with his hands behind him, stretching the stiffness from his back due to the amount of work he did.

 

Finishing just in time as well, he heard the sounds of magestic flaps of a winged-animal. It was drawing nearer and Yuta knew exactly who it was.

 

"In 3...2...1-"

 

"Yuta!"

 

A voice called. A voice so deep that Yuta swore he felt the ground shake. It sounds quite exaggerated but to Yuta, it really was. Yuta opened the huge doors at the entrance to greet his wizard master.

 

"I assume you've found what you needed, Master Yoru." Yuta bowed as he asked in a casual formal tone. The wizard dismounted his eagle-lion hybrid pet, in other words, a griffon before letting it fly off to a rock cliff to rest. Yoru nodded to Yuta's question and took out a few twigs from his non-exsistant pocket, walking through the hallway to his room where most of his spells and potions were made. Yuta followed close behind his shadow.

 

Yes, he was working for the evil infamous wizard, Sazuki Yoru. A tall, almost pale skinned, middle-aged man. He heard that he once had conjured up many types of dark spells using his wand, or rather an antique version of a conductor's baton, which made people fear him. But now, he's more focused on finding the place where he most desired to find for a very long time, Yuta's heard. But that supposed place, another castle, a crystal one at that, had apparently disappeared all of a sudden. Yuta's only read those kinds of things in storybooks his mother used to read him.

 

But he knew Yoru was more than determined than anyone else to finding it, he won't stop at anything to get his hands on the instruments.

 

Yoru walked past Yuta to place the bunch of twigs into a pile on his table, not even a word of greeting came out of his mouth. But what can Yuta say, he was the one with more power and authority over him. The assistant was merely an ant if he decided to challenge him.

 

"Did you do what I odered you to while I was gone?" Yoru asked his apprentice and Yuta needed to take a moment before replying with a 'Yes.'

 

"I even arranged your bookshelves, master." Yuta added. Even if the latter's arranging skills are'nt the best in Yoru's opinion, it was better than what he had expected.

 

The wizard did not say anything else and just flipped through the pages of what Yuta assumed was his spell book. Yuta was curious. He peeked over the wizard's shoulder, just to get a brief look of what Yoru was reading. The writting had some symbols of which Yuta could understand, but some where unreadable to him.

 

"I'm sorry to interrupt your, uh, reading but, what potion are you making, master?" Yuta asked cautiously as he knew not to disturb his master while he was working. But strangely, Yoru replied as he studied one of the twigs that was now clasped in his fingers. "Just a new spell I've been working on." He broke the twig in half and dropped it into a mixture in a small pot. "And with it, I can finally have everyone in the land to do as I command." He said as he halfly submerged his wand into the mixture.

 

Yuta was torn and conflicted between doing the right thing that is to run away from this pathway to darkness, or staying by Yoru's side and have more power and money than he could imagined. Both options had, no doubt, a bad ending to them but Yuta was in no position to choose or change his fate.

 

As Yoru took out his wand, he swoshed it around to admire the new particles which consists of faded music notes that flowed out from the sharp tip. "Yes...beautiful." Yoru said, brushing his fingers along the body of his tool. Yuta knew that his plan was to assemble a whole army. From one moment he decides to find a castle which Yuta at first had no idea about until he heard the story and all that, then changes the objective to hypnotize every person to his rule. The older was'nt very consistant in his plans was he?

 

Yuta placed his broom back in it's stand, eyeing his master's wand and said, "Master Yoru, I believe you have not finished telling me of why you decided to do this, but if you don't mind continuing, of course I-"

 

"I'm surprised you cared about it so much. Very well, I shall tell you." Yoru cut Yuta's sentence short. Yuta then looked at the older curiously.

 

 

Yuta had a confused and weary frown once he finally heard the whole story.

 

But he nods undrstandingly, forming an "o" with his mouth, making his confusion less obvious. "...You could imagine how upset and angry I was when they threw me out when I would'nt do it myself." Yoru clenched his fist, the memory if it coming back to him.

 

Yoru wanted to get revenge on everyone, even the people who had no relation to him. Yuta was'nt sure which side to defend and to go against. Getting revenge seemed a bit too extreme, just a tiny bit.

 

Just when Yuta was about to say something, a light glow appeared at the corner of his sight. Yoru looked over the younger's shoulders to see his orb lighting up and shimmered down dimly in an irregular pattern. He had forgotten that he used it to track down and find a certain special family member. Yoru's eyes widen, almost knocking and pushing Yuta out of the way to get a closer look at his orb's sudden strange behavior. Not to mention, an echo of such a soothing and...familiar voice could be heard throughout. Yoru recognized it. "Ah...Prince Taeil" Yoru said, circling around the small orb that was sat perfectly on the base of the pedestal. 

 

"It has been a long time since I've seen your face." Yuta quivered due to his master's slightly menacing voice, which he has still yet gotten used to.

 

Yoru smirked and turned around to face Yuta. "Looks like we'll be having a change of plans." Yuta wanted to rub his temples in disbelief and protest but held it back as to not seem he's being rude.

 

"Yuta, get my griffon ready." Yoru commanded. "I hope she does'nt mind doing more work for me."

 

Yuta groaned softly in frustration behind his back but obliges, unwillingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally our Moonlight (yes i gave him that nickname) and Osaka prince have made their appearances.
> 
> I'm sorry it took me so long to update :( School has kept me busy but I'll try to write a few paragraphs if I have the time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite this whole chapter cuz it got deleted somehow. I don't know how but it did.
> 
> Btw, Doyoung and Jaehyun are both the same age in this story, so their around 18/19 here.
> 
> Edit: Slight change in the aging; doyoung's a year older than jae in this story. Sorry for the sudden change.

"Wait so, you're really a prince?"

  
"I guess you could say that, yes." Taeil stroked the fine gold-like crown on top of his head with his fingers.

  
Doyoung gasped quite dramatically at the prince's answer. He was about to ask, bombard Taeil with more questions but Jaehyun cupped his palm on the other's mouth before he could even start. Jaehyun decides to let himself have a turn in asking the questions instead.

  
"So, where's your castle? If I'm not wrong, you should have one if you're a prince, right?" Jaehyun removed his hand on Doyoung's mouth and wiped it on the other's sleeve. Doyoung did'nt notice as he diverted his attention back to the said prince. But while doing so, he shamelessly wiped his saliva-coated palm on Doyoung's sleeve while the other was'nt looking.

  
"Well, you see..." Taeil trailed off but only to let out a loud abrupt gasp. As if he just became aware of something.

  
Well, that exact something was heading straight for them, the air breaking as it dove to the ground. Despite the obvious warnings, the two were oblivious to what was coming their way.

  
"Look out!" It was only then when they heard Taeil shout that they automatically turn their heads to whatever was behind them. Their eyes widen in utter shock as the creature blared out an obnoxious roar. It thrusted its huge tallons towards them but they managed to crouch and duck by reflex before the thing could grip the life out of them.

  
The creature flew above and right past them. Doyoung felt the panic rushing from his heart to his brain and back. "What in the world is that thing?!" Doyoung shouted, his voice embarrassingly breaking in the process.

  
With the little time he had before the creature comes flying back, he used it to observe the creature and try to find out what it was exactly. It had a head, tallons and the wings of an eagle. But it's hind legs all the way to it's tail oddly resembled to a lion— it was a griffon, a huge one. Doyoung's experienced many weird, out-of-the-ordinary strange things already, the meeting with Taeil included, but this was enough to make his head do full 360 degree spins just by thinking about it too much.

  
But he did'nt have that much time to think about it anymore, the griffon was coming back, again letting out a screech loud enough to shatter glass. The animal was approaching at an alarmingly fast rate but Doyoung felt like his legs could'nt move, as if the fear within him had chained his legs to the ground. His eyes went wider when he saw the griffon thrusting its tallons furthur towards him but his legs have yet to budge a single centimeter away from his position. He used his arms to sheild himself, waiting for the worst to happen.

  
"Doyoung!" The male heard a familiar voice shout from beside him. Jaehyun being the owner of that voice, tugged on Doyoung's wrist and pulled him out of the griffon's way. The creature skids slightly when it landed resulting in a fog of sand particles blocking its clear view. It let out yet another loud cry when it realizes that it had missed its targets again.

  
With fast steps, the both of them managed to get away. Jaehyun led the way back home with his hand firmly grasping onto Doyoung's and the mirror in the other. Jaehyun was physically more fit than Doyoung. So he needed to pick up to the younger's pace if he did'nt want to end up accidentally tripping himself, or the both of them even.

  
The griffon was soon hot on their tails but they managed to reach safely just in time. Doyoung decides to take a step back as Jaehyun gives him the mirror to hold while he closed and locked the door shut, making sure all the locks were closed and doing its work. While he was doing that, Doyoung just had an urge to do something to help, which he did when he spoted a worn-out couch and thought it would be a perfect sacrifice. He proceeds to push all his weight on the mentioned furniture. He managed to push the couch all the way towards the door, with some of Jaehyun's help of course, thinking that it might delay the griffon from trying to break in if it ever does.

  
Doyoung was relieved now that he could catch his breath again. The same could be said for Jaehyun, he was panting loudly as he leaned against the wall from exhaustion.

  
"No no no, ugh I knew this would happen. How could I be so foolish! He's still after me!" They heard Taeil's panicked scream as he hid his face in his palms as if to hide himself from the shame he was feeling.

  
"After you? Who's–"

  
Both of their breaths hitched as they heard a loud booming thump coming from the door. Doyoung gulped, moving back slowly with the mirror unintentionally pressed against his chest (he's not sure if Taeil was able to hear his beating heart sounding like it was racing against a speeding cheetah but Doyoung's pretty sure he could'nt). Jaehyun took a step back as well. The griffon was definitely trying to break in, smashing the door into bits was undeniably it's first priority.

  
After much thinking, Doyoung came up with a plan but he was'nt confident that it would end up succeeding. But he had to try.

  
"Jaehyun, I want you to run out through the back door, I'll hold onto Taeil. Oh and the keys are in my bag."

  
Jaehyun caught on and was'nt at all willing to agree. He shook his head for no, insisting that they should escape together with Taeil instead.

  
"B–but.."

  
"Jae, just trust me on this, okay?" Doyoung firmly gripped onto both of Jaehyun's shoulders. "I'll be right by your side after I'm done, just wait for me there." He assured.

  
Jaehyun finally nods.

  
He found Doyoung's saddle bag hanging on the branches of the cloak rack right beside the back door. He reaches inside as he fished out the keys to the said door. He turns the key in the respective hole in the doorknob and opens the door with ease.

  
Meanwhile, Doyoung rushed into the kitchen area and placed the mirror on the counter as he dug through the cabinets. There must be at least something in the drawers or cupboards that might be useful, right?

  
"Doyoung, what are you going to do?" Taeil asked, pupils in his eyes shaking from fear.

  
"You said the creature was only after you, am I right?" Doyoung pulled out what seemed to be a small silver item from the most bottom cabinet and places it on the counter.

  
"Y–yes..." Taeil confirmed as his voice shaking.

  
"Then we shall give it what it wants." Doyoung smirked, picking up both Taeil and the silver item which the prince could not properly pin-point what it was exactly.

  
Doyoung's heart paced two times faster when he heard like what sounds to be the door smashing into wooden bits and the heavy footsteps, or rather tallons scraping across the floor.

  
Outside, Jaehyun waited patiently— well more like he was pacing back and forth infront of the opened door nervously. He has this urging feeling in his gut, like his instincts are trying to say that he should run back to Doyoung but he knew waiting there was an order to follow.

  
"Doyoung's smart, he knows what he's doing. I should trust him." Jaehyun mumbles assuringly to himself, staring back at the open door infront of him.

  
He was almost convinced about his statement until he heard a loud squawk which undeniably came from the griffon.

  
"Hey!" Doyoung had to admit that it was kind of an impromptu moment since he did'nt expect himself to shout so confidently, especially infront of the bird–lion hybrid.

  
In reply, the griffon turned his head towards Doyoung with sharp threatening eyes.

  
"Doyoung, what in God's name are you doing?" Taeil whisper–shouted but it was left ignored by the raven–haired boy.

  
Doyoung raised his hand, eye–leveling the _mirror_ towards the griffon.

  
"You want this, right?" Doyoung watches as the griffon's eyes followed every movement of his hand which held the _mirror_ and counts it as a yes.

  
"Then fetch!" Doyoung flung the mirror across the room like it was some sort of toy frisbee. If the griffon had stayed still, standing right there infront of him, he would curse at himself for being so stupid— which also implies that he admits, it's a stupid plan. The next few seconds after he threw the object however was halfly unexpected as the griffon chased after it comedically, like a pet dog playing fetch with it's owner.

  
Doyoung took the opportunity to run away as he clutched onto the real mirror in his hand.

  
The griffon was focused on grabbing hold of the fake mirror. Too focused that it did'nt notice a candle that was still lit and which stood on a cabinet table. It accidentally knocks it over with it's tail. The animal cried out when the heat of the flame touched the tip of its tail. The worst could be said with the curtains however. Unfortunately, the candle flame made it to the nearby curtain sheet and set fire to it. The fire was getting bigger but Doyoung was already heading outside to witness it.

  
The griffon made it's way back outside and flew away, satisfied. Thinking that its job was done. We'll juat have to see what its master thinks about that.

  
Jaehyun finally could'nt take it anymore and was about to head in but then felt relief flowing back into him when he saw a familiar face running towards him.

  
"Let's go before that thing decides to get it's claws on us as well." Doyoung says.

  
They ran until they were at a far away distance, just enough for them to not get lost and at least have a short walk back.

  
Back to see the ashy remains of their home.

  
Once they did return, all that was left of their home were the wooden parts that were burnt. It was completely demolished. The smell of used charcoal filled the air, if the smell was any stronger it would be considered lethal.

  
Jaehyun was the first one to approach the scene. The smell becoming more stronger the more he got closer. He scanned through the place once more again until he spots something familiar. It layed dead on the open ground and Jaehyun went towards it to get a closer look. It was his guitar. There was nothing to feel glad about. The instrument too got burnt to complete charcoal and half of the six strings were snapped apart, the other three strings were just gone entirely.

  
"Please tell me this is just a nightmare." Jaehyun said bitterly, sadness coating each word he said but yet he appeared hopeful (not the happy kind) when he looked back up to where his friend stood.

  
Seeing him like that, Doyoung did'nt want to but eventually shook his head no at him. "I wish to say the same but...it's not." The younger's expression went back to sadness.

  
Jaehyun had one last glance before putting it back down, hoping that it would have a peaceful rest. Then he looked around again and spotted something else familiar.

  
"Hey Doyoung, is'nt that your saddle bag over there." It was a distance away from them but Jaehyun was pretty sure it was definitely what he thought it was. Doyoung let out a sound of confusion as he then searched around expectantly and his eyes landed on that exact thing.

  
Doyoung gasped, grabbing and flipping over on each side to check, "I–it's still here?" He hugged it close to his chest, it smelt a little burnt but not as much as the other things around him. Even the bunny inprinted on it was still visible, well maybe it was little smudged around the ears but most of it was still in one piece.

  
"At least it's not burnt to charcoal like mine."

  
"Hey, cheer up. I bet my flute had suffered worse. It's probably buried underneath the ground somewhere." Doyoung walked back with his bag over his shoulder and Jaehyun's mood brightened a little, maybe by just two percent.

  
"I am so sorry. It's my fault I brought you two into this mess." They heard Taeil's voice spoke and Doyoung fished the mirror out of his pocket to see the regretful expression on his face.

  
Doyoung could'nt say anything but to just give a sad grin. "I–it's alright, you don't need to blame yourself."

  
Taeil did'nt say anything after that.

  
"If it's okay for me to ask, who exactly is this person who's after you?...And why?" Jaehyun asked beside Doyoung. Taeil was a little taken aback by his question but at the same time expected it. They deserved an explanation after all.

  
"I mean, it's okay if you don't want to tell us."

  
"No, it's fine." Taeil was'nt hesitant when he spoke. "His name is Yoru. Sazuki Yoru. He's...a friend of my father, well used to be." Both Doyoung and Jaehyun listened attentively.

  
Taeil took a few more seconds to figure out his next words. "He frequents the kingdom quite often to create music, together with the king and queen,"

  
"My parents..." The last words came out almost silent like he was mumbling.

  
"Traditionally, diamonds are placed on a wall to symbolize another song created. My family believes that happiness can be spread through music and the kingdom turns more brighter with every new diamond shown. My father and Yoru had such a bond, but it all changed after he and my father had a fight.

  
It was around two years ago, I heard them yelling in the throne room. Yoru was talking about wanting to have the royal instruments only for his own doings. My father denied his request, the instruments were to be used by the royal family only. After that, Yoru got furious and threatened to take over the throne if he did'nt give up the instruments. And because of his hostile behavior, he was forced to be sent out and was forbidden to step a foot into the kingdom ever again.

  
Despite his banishment however, Yoru returned barely a week after with the same griffon you guys saw earlier. My parents confronted him outside the castle. My father felt bad from what happened and tried to reason with him instead, but Yoru changed to a completely different person. He said no words when he used his wand to turn both my parents...into stone.

  
I was terrified when I saw it happening with my two eyes. Without my parents, the castle loses it's power and the instruments loses it's purpose to exist. With no power, the whole kingdom and all the things living in it faded away...into nothing.

  
After hiding the instruments, I ran but the griffon saw and chased after me. I was at a dead end but then, I saw it. I was'nt sure at first but I had no way else to go. So, I entered and hid myself in the mirror with my own  
magic."

  
"You have, magic? Like magical powers?" Doyoung asked to which Taeil nodded to, and continued on.

  
"I was trapped, but the safeness of the mirror somehow comforted me, knowing that Yoru won't find me here. After that, I never said another word."

  
Jaehyun and Doyoung's expression became even more softer and more of understanding after they knew more about him.

  
Taeil continued,"That was until I met the two of you, and now look what happened." He of course was talking about the damaged caused from the unintentional fire.

  
"All simply because I could'nt keep my lips shut for just another little second..." Remorse and sadness were the only two things coating Taeil's words. His eyes looked to the floor. "I really did'nt mean for all of this to happen."

  
By this, Jaehyun's sympathetic insticts naturally kicked in. "No, it's fine, you can't really do anything about it. We'll find a new house to live in, eventually. That is, if we could even afford a stable one of course." He spoke, looking at the structure, the pieces left of what he and Doyoung used to call home. Jaehyun just did'nt want Taeil to feel bad, which kind of did the trick.

  
Flashbacks to when the two were still living in the orphanage flooded through his memory lane. Memories of how the building got demolished and how they were being forced out at the mere age of sixteen. How lucky they were to actually find a place to stay. But to see it now gone...was heart-wrenching and was mentally hard to accept.

  
Meanwhile, Doyoung was just still overwhelmed over what happened, by everything which had occured that day, really. All of it was so hard to believe, he almost felt like he was just seeing things. The only difference was that it felt too real to pass off as just an illision. The talking man in the mirror, a griffon, castles? He sees those only in fantasy books he read when he was younger.

  
"So is there a way to bring your kingdom back?" Doyoung broke the silence.

  
"I don't know, but my guess is that if my kingdom disappeared because of my parents' disappearance, getting them back would mean bringing back both the kingdom and the instruments as well." Taeil answered.

  
"Okay, but what if Yoru succeeds in taking over the instruments?" Jaehyun chimed in, suddenly feeling even more curious.

  
Taeil was hesitant but managed to answer back. "Then he wins. He'll have all the power he needs to take revenge, and the whole world will be no more than darkness and despair."

  
Both of them nodded at the same time. "Is there a way to stop him?" Doyoung asked again and Taeil's eyes looked up at him with a glint of hope in his eyes.

  
It took a while longer for the prince to reply to that however."I don't know how exactly. But if we could get the instruments in time before he does, there's a chance we might be able to stop him."

  
Hearing this, Jaehyun smirked as he turned to look at Doyoung in the eyes. The older did not like the unsettling sensation he felt in his stomach when he looked at the younger's expression. Doyoung knew damn well what that face meant, he did'nt need to pry into the younger's mind to figure it out. Doyoung rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Jaehyun, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking right now, don't–"

  
Jaehyun ignored Doyoung's unfinished protest so casually as his lips thinned and curled up cheekily. "So, how far is this castle you say?" The male kept staring at the older as he says this, staying attentive to his expressions.

  
"It's further somewhere up north, near the lake by the seven stones." Taeil answered like it was still fresh in his memory, and it still was.

  
"That can't be too far away." Jaehyun gazed above to see the sky turning into a gradient of pink and orange; the sun was about to set. He then lowered his gaze to meet Doyoung's frown, one that disagrees to whatever Jaehyun was going on about. The brunette looked at him like he was pleading for candy, that being for him to go along.

  
"I don't know about this, Jaehyun. I mean, we've never wandered anywhere further than the village." Doyoung stated doubtfully. He did'nt know why was he so scared, a part of him was insisting that he should but his mind was refusing to cooperate. There was just too many risks in adventuring outside their comfort travel zones.

  
"Please, Taeil really needs our help." Jaehyun persuades through a whisper so that only Doyoung's ears could hear them, the older does'nt seem convinced yet. "Come on, please. Just think, when will we ever get another opportunity like this to explore new parts of the land like this, go to places that we've never been before."

  
Now, Doyoung just feels unsure about it. "It will be fun, trust me." Jaehyun assured one more time.

  
Like at the fountain, Doyoung recalls the time when Jaehyun said something similar when they were younger, about traveling the world and exploring new places. It was Jaehyun's dream and Doyoung did say he would make his dream come true one day.

  
"Fine," Doyoung finally whispers back and sighs. He really hopes he won't regret the decision he was making. He takes a deep breath before muttering his next words. "If it's what you want, then we'll do it."

  
"Great!" Jaehyun exclaimed.

  
Taeil tilts his head, curious as to what their discussion was about and hearing the outcome.

  
"Taeil, we're going to help you find your parents and the Diamond Castle." Jaehyun announced with a gentle smile, his cheeks showing off his signature dimples. "We promise."

  
Once Taeil heard those words, his lips revealed a toothy smile which definately appeared the most brightest since the they met him. "Really?" He sounded so shocked he barely could believe his own ears.

  
Jaehyun nodded a yes and Doyoung followed suit, though not as excited as Jaehyun was. But the older smiled through it anyway.

  
"I can't thank you guys enough for this."

  
"No need to, we have'nt even started walking yet." Jaehyun jokingly said. The boy straightened and stood up abruptly making Doyoung flinch a bit. "So how about we start, now. C'mon."

  
"Wait, now?!" Doyoung was honestly surprised. He thought they would set off the day after, he did'nt expect Jaehyun to suddenly walk off just right when he said that. Should'nt they pack something first? But then again, there was nothing much to pack really since their home was completely destroyed.

  
Jaehyun turned his head, looking back to see the older still not moving. "Doyoung hyung, are'nt you coming?" He yelled as he walked then facing back to the front to continue.

  
Doyoung groaned softly in defeat. Gripping a hand around the strap of his bag as he runs up ahead to catch up to the younger. Jaehyun chuckled, feeling quite satisfied with himself. The older just rolled his dark orbs as he crossed his arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I only half read and beta'd this chapter so don't mind the mistakes. I'll probably fix it later on if I have the time.


	6. Chapter 6

Yoru paced back and fourth with an angry scowl, muttering something under his breath. Yuta sat cross-legged on one of the cushions as he watched his master.

  
"What kind of idiot do those people take me as? Yuta, tell me, do I look stupid to you?"

  
Yuta was taken aback when Yoru had unexpectedly called his name. The younger's eyes quivered to come up with an answer. "Of course not, only those without a brain could tell that you're one of the most intelligent wizards out there." Yuta answered, the fake grin was subtle enough for it to be unnoticed. Yoru seemed convinced as he was more than delighted to hear those words from the latter.

  
"Ah, you never fail to disappoint my feelings Yuta." Yoru chuckled.

  
Yuta bowed his head as he stood. When he looked back up, he noticed Yoru's hand clutching onto the fake mirror tightly. The wizard looked at his own reflection, void of any emotion. Yuta felt his breath freeze as Yoru squeezed the mirror with his bare hands as he thought Yoru was about to fling the item out of aggression. But strangely, his master halted mid-way, his hand which held the mirror still hovered above his head froze in a throwing stance. Then a sly smirk grew upon his lips.

  
Yoru called out for his griffon. The griffon obeyed, flying down from it's nest. Infront of the wizard it sat up broadly, waiting for it's next command. Yoru then raised his hand, the mirror he held exposed to the griffon's sense of smell. The sound that came out from the griffon next was like a mixture of a chirp and a low growl. Yuta knows from experience that the griffon had an impeccable sense of smell, somewhat akin to a hunting dog.

  
"Yuta." The latter had the same expression when his master called him earlier.

  
"Y-yes?"

  
"I need you to do something for me, can you do that?" Yoru took a few steps slowly towards him, an eyebrow raised as he waits for the younger's reply.

  
"Sure, what is it that you need me to do?" Yuta asked. Yoru's smirk grew even wider as he chuckled, his deep voice made it sound even more devilish. The wizard snapped his fingers suspiciously and it produced a click which was loud enough to echo throughout the whole castle. What Yoru said after that was something Yuta was not expecting. "I've temporarily gotten rid of your curse so you won't need to worry. My griffon will be of your company. I need you to go, find Prince Taeil and bring him to me, with little to no harm as much as possible. Am I clear?"

  
"C-crystal." Yuta gulped as he stuttered through his words from anxiety. Yoru aproached him slowly, his expression turned dark as he took in a inhaled and exhaled a cloud of breath. The distance between the two man was enough for Yuta to feel Yoru's breath brush down his nose. Yuta gulped as he struggled to breath under his master's gaze.

  
"Don't try to do anything I would'nt like while you're stripped away from your curse. Because if I find out," Yoru leaned his face closer to the apprentice. Yuta's orbs quivered as his heart started pounding at a faster rate against his chest. Yoru noticed and chuckled lightly yet it still sounded so threatening in Yuta's ears. "I guess you'll know if it happens." Yoru's smirk never left it's place.

  
Yoru backed away and Yuta felt like he could finally breathe again. The wizard turned facing the opposite direction with his hands folded behind his back. "Now go, let me know of any information or news that comes your way."

  
With that said, Yuta prepared himself before he made his way to the exit. Yuta pushed himself up as he kicked his legs over the saddle. He settled as the griffon began to hover.

  
Yuta took his one in a lifetime chance as he inhaled the abundant amount of fresh air which surrounded him. Yuta did'nt know why he used to take breathing for granted before, it's so much better than the stuffy old castle. But then Yuta remembered Yoru's words, he's being set free only because he had a task to do and that's it...

  
_...he'll be back behind the walls of that dreadful castle after he's done anyway._

 

 

They had agreed to sleep for the night. It was getting way too dark to be out finding a hidden castle. Both–all three of them?– settled down on a small flat patch of land with seemingly countless trees scattered around them. They did manage to start a fire, that's a good thing. The crackling heat source warmed up the cold night atmosphere pleasantly. They won't have a satisfying meal for the night as expected, sadly. Doyoung sort of regretted not taking some of the berries from Jaehyun which he had found and even offered earlier.

  
_At the corner of his eyes, Doyoung noticed Jaehyun's cheeks were moving much more than he thinks they should. The raven-haired side-eyed him questioningly then turned to face him. "Jaehyun, are you actually eating something? If it's earthworms then I rather not know." At the older's assumption, Jaehyun felt like he may have accidently swallowed in the wrong tube making him cough out loud._

  
_"What? No." Jaehyun protested. "Just some wild berries I found in a bush we passed by." Jaehyun replied as he puckered his lips when the sourness of the fruit kicked in. "Also, earthworms are technically quite edible, not to mention nutritious. So I would'nt mind If I actually had one right now." Jaehyun answered with his mouth quarter full, the dimple on the side of his cheeks indicates that he was indeed smiling. Doyoung's stomach churned at the younger's statement._

  
_"Gross, absolutely disgusting. And stop talking as if you're smarter than I am." Doyoung whined. "Where do you know all of that anyway? Don't tell me you've actually eaten a worm before and never told me."_

  
_"But it's true and no, I have not, just heard. Want some? The berries I mean." Jaehyun offered some of the fruit in his hands to the older. "Their a tiny bit sour but the sweetness comes in eventually, try it."_

  
_"I'll pass." Doyoung declined._

  
_"You sure?"_

  
_"Yeah."_

  
_"Suit yourself." Jaehyun shrugged as he plopped another berry into his mouth._

  
_Taeil may or may not have eavesdropped on their little conversation, albeit quiet muffled. He chuckled quietly to himself._

  
Doyoung's back was leaned on the side of a tree trunk where he had slept. His eyelids fluttered open, awoken to the sound of crackling fire and shuffling twigs.  
Ignoring the trees blocking his sight of view above him, the sky was nearing past dawn, showcasing a magnificent blue orange-tinted morning sky.

  
"You ready to go?" Jaehyun asked as he was already wide awake and standing. "Taeil and I thought it would be better to head out early."

  
Taeil nods as he tries not to yawn in between Jaehyun's words. When was the last time he had to wake up this early? It's been so long, but at least he got some shut-eye for a while.

  
Oh, so it was'nt a dream after all...– Doyoung sighed. He then stood up with a groan as he stretched and yawned loudly.

  
"Your hair looks like an abandoned bird's nest." Jaehyun remarked. It was true, Doyoung's black hair was all over the place. Taeil laughed whole-heartedly as a result and Jaehyun joined along. Doyoung rolled his eyes as he ruffled his dark hair and brushed it out with his fingers. A com would've been handy, but as you can tell, their resources are quite scarceful at the moment.

  
"Yours is'nt that much different, to be honest." Doyoung commented, done with untangling his morning hair and picked up his saddle bag, swinging it above his head onto his shoulder.

  
"Eh, I thought it looked just fine earlier." Jaehyun raised an eyebrow.

  
"I'm just kidding. Here," Right after, Doyoung approached the brunnette and sweetly ruffles (read: played with) the strands of the latter's soft brown hair. Jaehyun stared into the other's dark concentrated orbs but looked away once he realized what he was doing. "...Better." Doyoung said, leaning back to see and Jaehyun smiled, his prominent dimples on show. Doyoung stared at them for a moment. He had always wondered, curious, of how deep Jaehyun's dimples actually were. And Jaehyun's cheeks looked so soft and squishable and...were turning pink?

  
Conveniently enough, Jaehyun held the mirror up high enough for Taeil to see it all unfold. He had the tendency to smirk but held it in. It was'nt long until the young prince coughed, disrupting the atmosphere, one of the pair was quite thankful for that. "Sorry for ruining your moment but we really should start walking now. Time is'nt going to stop for us, you know."

  
After Taeil's sudden interuption, the both of them now realised and shot away from each other, both a blushing mess. They wanted to deny whatever Taeil's interpretation of their "moment" was, they did'nt need to hear it. But no matter the situation, the prince knows the feeling when he sees it, no, senses it— sounds about right.

  
"Right, let's go then." Doyoung allowed himself to move first, likewise Jaehyun followed close beside him.

  
Following Taeil's hopefully accurate directions, they started heading north from where they were. The three talked and conversed comfortably with one another. Taeil seemed to be gunuinely interested about Jaehyun's and Doyoung's relationship, young boys growing up together and all.

  
As they sauntered for another fifteen minutes, the trees behind them were beginning to decrease in numbers meaning that they were almost out.

  
"Taeil, which way do we go now?" Jaehyun asked as he casually thrusted the mirror forwards so that Taeil could make out the landscape a bit better and answer from there.

  
"There should be a stone path somewhere around here."

  
"I suppose we're on the right track." Jaehyun turned to see Doyoung gazing down to his feet. Following the same gesture, Jaehyun found a conviniently placed stone pathway beneath the sole of his shoe and it seems to be following towards the outskirts of the forest. The trail was mostly made out of a few circular stones stuck in a line of gravel.

  
They continued on with their walk.

  
~~~

  
It was now bright with the sun shining warmly, halfway until the peek of noon. They continued walking and decided to stop by a rather familiar looking place. There were wooden structures lined and a few market and shop houses were crowded with customers.

  
"Weird, I swore there should be something here." Taeil mentally scratched his head in confusion.

  
"Wait, is'nt this the same village we go to?" Jaehyun points out the obvious.

  
"Yes, yes it is." Doyoung deadpanned. The villagers had familiar faces and they could even see their little stage– the fountain– from where they were standing.

  
"I think I must've followed the wrong north or maybe I missed a path." Taeil was panicking. Not only did he forgot the directions back to his own home (to be fair, he was starting from somewhere he never stepped foot on before), but he also brought the other two to a place which apparently was only a few walks away from their cottage. He practically burdened them with having to walk for more than a few meters.

  
"I'm so sorry if I upsetted you guys."

  
"No. It's alright." Jaehyun assured. Doyoung wanted to collapse on his knees and faint. He woke up and travelled on feet for miles, when he could've taken the shorter route.

  
"I think I need to rest for a bit." Doyoung said.

  
"You and me both."

  
While searching for a suitable rest-spot, they landed upon a small restaurant. They'll just visit, rest for a bit and head out again. Easy plan and quite straight-foward. Doyoung was the first to step inside. The interior was simple with circle tables placed randomly. The biggest mistake he made was taking in the smell of freshly out-of-the-oven baked potatoes and the sweet aroma of homemade zucchini bread. He was drooling in no time and the growling noise from Jaehyun's stomach could be heard very clearly beside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of bad and rushed I know. There's probably tons of grammar/spelling mistakes. But I really wanted to put something up before another week of school starts.


End file.
